Gifts in Action—A Record of Lives Changed

The public phase of The Campaign for Tennessee officially begins in April 2008. However, the campaign actually has been underway for more than three years, and we have much to celebrate.

To mark this milestone, we have inaugurated Achievement, a magazine highlighting the impact of gifts to the University of Tennessee made during the preliminary phase of the university’s billion-dollar comprehensive campaign. Inside, you will find stories about these gifts and the people across the state who benefit from them.

You will find stories about physical changes on our campuses when grateful alumni or generous friends of the university make substantial investments in UT’s programs. Not all gifts alter the landscape, however. Most gifts produce changes that have a more personal impact on the university community or profoundly improve the lives of UT students and faculty as well as people across the state, the Mid-South region, and the nation. We are proud to share these stories with you.

In the following pages you will be introduced to six-year-old Matthew Harmon who was born with a rare disease affecting his vision. A number of doctors had operated on him unsuccessfully, and his prognosis was inevitable blindness until one of his surgeons suggested he visit Dr. Peter Netland at the UT Health Science Center’s new Hamilton Eye Institute.

Or you can read about Colleen Cruze, a food science major in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. Thanks to an endowment by the Mayfield Dairy Family Foundation, Colleen can move closer to a lifelong dream of pursuing a career in the dairy industry—on her own family farm.

We have included a story about UT’s program to produce predator beetles to combat the hemlock adelgid, a tiny insect that is destroying our eastern hemlock forests. Without the help of UT and other research institutes, another of the nation’s most spectacular trees will likely slide into oblivion in a tale similar to that of the once-dominant American chestnut.

These stories, and thousands of others like them, were made possible through the generous support of individuals, families, and foundations that cared enough to make a difference. These are your stories, stories of gifts in action, stories of lives changed. To each of you who contribute in whatever way you can to the university and to The Campaign for Tennessee, we humbly say, thank you.

Sincerely,

John D. Petersen
President
The University of Tennessee